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Lowell officials seek solution to panhandling issue

By Grant Welker, gwelker@lowellsun.com

Updated:
04/12/2016 09:42:29 PM EDT

LOWELL -- A committee comprised of elected officials, police, nonprofit representatives and others will be convened to help the city deal with a panhandling problem that many say seems to be worsening.

The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to set up the committee, as well as to see what legislative steps can be taken in light of a previous anti-panhandling ordinance being struck down last fall by a federal judge.

"We're frustrated," said Councilor Bill Samaras, who pitched the idea for the ad-hoc committee.

Councilors said they'd like to get creative, if need be. Mayor Ed Kennedy suggested the city could go after motorists who donate by perhaps making such contributions illegal.

"That may not eliminate all of it, but would maybe eliminate a good part of it," he said.

Councilor Rita Mercier compared people giving money to panhandlers to feeding ducks, in how both create bad habits.

"If they weren't getting any money, they wouldn't be standing there at all," she said.

Lowell's previous ordinance was rejected in U.S. District Court and called illegal because of freedom-of-speech rights protecting people soliciting money. But councilors have continued to push for solutions, saying people are bothered on downtown streets and on the Lord Overpass.

"Let's find ways we can regulate what is permissible and what is not," said Councilor Rodney Elliott, who asked for a report on what steps the city can take in wake of the court ruling.

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Corey Belanger said some people seeking money have become so aggressive that some women who work downtown have told them they don't want to walk through the area.

City officials have also looked to clean up areas where panhandlers and homeless congregate. What the city has called a homeless camp off the Lord Overpass is on private property, limiting how much action the city can take to remove items, City Manager Kevin Murphy said in a report to the council Tuesday.

The site, along railroad tracks below Middlesex Street, is owned by Clear Channel, according to the city. The company will be paying to clean up the property, Murphy said.

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